Hills for a change

As I bundled up this morning, hoping I had on enough layers to keep out the cold air and chilling wind, I decided I wanted a challenge this morning. It was to be my first run of the New Year and I decided to take a lollipop loop route (basically a loop with an out and back so it looks like a lollipop when it is mapped out) that hits most of the big, long hills in my area.

I love running hills and I think it is one of my strengths when it comes to running. At last year’s inaugural Marine Corp. Historic Half in Fredericksburg, MD, I ran my fastest half-marathon time on a route that reduced many people to walkers by the end. There were two or three notable inclines and a handful of smaller, rolling sections of the course and from much of the feedback I saw on the race’s website and from the Runner’s World forums, most people weren’t thrilled about the hilly course.

I thought the course was great and very sincerely hope the race committee does not change it. There is no better feeling than finally coming to the top of a hill after battling your way up, legs screaming, breathing heavy. Suddenly, you can feel your heart beating and for a second you think it might just beat its way right out of your throat and run off down the sidewalk without you but it doesn’t. Slowly, your legs are renewed and your lungs and heart rate slow as you slide back in to a groove. It is invigorating and powerful.

Also, it is one of the best ways to combine running with strength training.

I took off in to the chilly and dark morning and letting my legs carry me up and down the hills of the bike path as it leads to Rosslyn and the Potomac River beyond. My pace was slower, over 11:00 miles, but that doesn’t matter when you are facing a hill, only the effort to get to the top can conquer a hill, not a faster pace.

After turning around just outside Rosslyn, I jumped off the bike trail and ran along Wilson Boulevard. Normally, I hate running on city streets, stopping at stop lights, dodging people, suspicious of every car, eyeing every driver to make sure they don’t have intentions of running me down as I cross a street. However, these frustrations don’t exist in the early morning and I quietly slip by closed stores, dark office buildings and the rare pedestrian or worker whose presence emphasizes the earliness and solitude of my morning run.

Today’s Daily Dozen:
5.29 mile run (28 min. run/1 minute walk x 2 intervals), some aggravation in my right hamstring during and soreness in my quads afterwards